Print job control apparatus, print job control method, and computer-readable storage medium storing a program thereof

ABSTRACT

There is provided a print job control apparatus including an acquiring unit configured to acquire post-processing function information of a digital printing apparatus, a determination unit configured to reference the post-processing function information and the print job, and determine to use either a post-processing function of the digital printing apparatus or a post-processing apparatus for post-processing, a first generating unit configured to generate a print job to be executed using the post-processing function of the digital printing apparatus, a second generating unit configured to generate a print job to be executed using a post-processing apparatus, and a sending unit configured to send the print jobs generated by the first or second generating units to the digital printing apparatus and the post-processing apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to print job control apparatuses thatcontrol print jobs, method and computer-readable storage medium aprogram thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, in commercial printing industries, in which orders arereceived from third parties (customers and clients) to produce printedmaterials (magazines, newspapers, catalogs, advertisements, photographicprints, and the like) and the printed materials desired by the clientare produced, it is common to use large scale printing apparatuses suchas offset plate printing presses. With these types of apparatuses, workadvances through various processes such as manuscript input,design/layout, comps (presentations based on printer output), proofing(layout corrections and color correction), press proofs (proofprintouts), plate making, printing, post-processing tasks, and shipping.This is because making plates is unavoidable when using theabove-mentioned printing presses, and once plates are made, makingmodifications to them is not easy and is considerably disadvantageous interms of cost, and therefore careful proofing is essential in tasks suchas layout checks and color confirmations. As a result, extensiveequipment is required in these tasks, and to a certain extent time isalso required to produce the printed materials that the client desires.Moreover, specialized knowledge has been required for these respectivetasks and the know-how of a person proficient in the tasks has beennecessary. However, in recent years, there have been improvements in thequality and performance of digital printing machines used to respond tosmall quantity and quick turnaround jobs, and these digital printingmachines are being widely adopted in the printing industry. As a result,in recent years there have been an increasing number of cases in whichusers of offset printing presses have been adopting digital printingmachines. Consequently, rather than constructing separate workflows foroffset printing and digital printing, there is a growing requirement toconstruct a workflow (hybrid workflow) in which the use of printingmachines is divided according to factors such as delivery times,quality, job size, and costs.

In the case where a printing enterprise is adding digital printingequipment to an offset printing based print workflow system to constructa hybrid workflow system, it is necessary to give consideration todifferences between offset printing and digital printing such as thoseindicated hereinafter. In offset printing, multiple pages (for example,eight pages per side) are allotted and printed on a large sheet ofpaper. Further still, after printing, multiple post-processing processesare separately necessary for finishing. Furthermore, generally aspecial-purpose post-processing apparatus is used for each of thepost-processing processes. Accordingly, a special-purpose job ticket isassigned for the offset printing press and each post-processingapparatus. On the other hand, in digital printing using amultifunctional peripheral (also called an MFP), it is possible to usestandard size papers (for example, A4 and A3), which are smaller thanthe papers in offset printing. And such devices are capable of carryingout printing for each page and sorting pages into single lots, as wellas carrying out simple finishing processes (such as half folding, zigzagfolding, cutting at specified thicknesses (number of pages) andspecified positions, and stapling up to specified thicknesses).Accordingly, knowledge and experience are required of an operator forconsidering the above-described differences (for determining whether ornot to use the MFP's simple finishing processes for example), whichundesirably increases the operational burden of the operator.Accordingly, a workflow system is desired that is capable ofautomatically inputting the print jobs used in conventional offsetprinting as they are into a digital printing workflow.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-324553 describes a print controldevice in which print job commands for processing a print job areobtained, and a determination is performed as to whether or not theobtained print job commands and default print job commands stored in amemory are matched. When not matching is determined, the print controldevice replaces the default print job commands with the obtained printjob commands. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-260332describes an image formation support device that performs electronictrimming by calculating from the file sizes layout information such asimposition of TIFF format image file data generated in RIP processingand placement positions of each page. After electronic trimming, thisimage formation support device aligns the vertical orientation of thepages and changes the arrangement of the pages that have undergoneelectronic trimming in response to collation instructions or face-downinstructions when there are such instructions.

However, the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.2005-324553 presumes that all print commands are available in a singleprint job, and therefore no consideration is given to a point thatinstructions are necessary for each press, which is an intrinsic featureof offset printing. For this reason, when inputting a print job of anoffset printing workflow to a digital printing workflow, it is necessaryto reset the print job containing instructions for multiple finishingprocesses for multiple post-processing apparatuses. Also, in the methoddescribed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-260332, in order toinput an offset printing job to digital printing, large sized sheetimage data that has undergone imposition for plate-making isdisassembled electronically and the imposition settings are converted.Consequently, it is necessary to perform the conversion so that theimage data is made suitable for digital printing. However, in order tocarry out this conversion, consideration must be given to thedifferences in post-processing processes (finishing processes) duringoffset printing and digital printing, and an operator cannot easilychange these.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a print job control apparatus that iscapable of automatically converting the finishing process instructionsof a print job in press plate printing to finishing process instructionsof a print job in digital printing.

The present invention in its first aspect provides a print job controlapparatus that receives a print job to be used in a press plate printingsystem having post-processing and generates a print job capable of beingused in a digital printing system including a digital printing apparatusand a post-processing apparatus, comprising: an acquiring unitconfigured to acquire post-processing function information of thedigital printing apparatus, a determination unit configured to referencethe post-processing function information acquired by the acquiring unitand the received print job, and determine to use either apost-processing function of the digital printing apparatus or thepost-processing apparatus for the post-processing, a first generatingunit configured to generate a print job by which post-processing, forwhich the determination unit has determined a post-processing functionof the digital printing apparatus to be used, is executed by thepost-processing function of the digital printing apparatus, a secondgenerating unit configured to generate a print job by whichpost-processing, for which the determination unit has determined thepost-processing apparatus to be used, is executed by the post-processingapparatus, and a sending unit configured to send the print job generatedby the first generating unit to the digital printing apparatus or sendthe print job generated by the second generating unit to thepost-processing apparatus.

The present invention in its second aspect provides a print job controlmethod executed in a print job control apparatus that receives a printjob to be used in a press plate printing system having post-processingand generates a print job capable of being used in a digital printingsystem including a digital printing apparatus and a post-processingapparatus, the print job control method comprising: an acquiring step ofacquiring post-processing function information of the digital printingapparatus, a determination step of referencing the post-processingfunction information acquired in the acquiring step and the receivedprint job, and determining to use either a post-processing function ofthe digital printing apparatus or the post-processing apparatus for thepost-processing, a first generating step of generating a print job bywhich post-processing, for which the post-processing function of thedigital printing apparatus has been determined in the determination stepto be used, is executed by the post-processing function of the digitalprinting apparatus, a second generating step of generating a print jobby which post-processing, for which the post-processing apparatus hasbeen determined in the determination step to be used, is executed by thepost-processing apparatus, and a sending step of sending the print jobgenerated in the first generating step to the digital printing apparatusor sending the print job generated in the second generating step to thepost-processing apparatus.

The present invention in its third aspect provides a computer-readablestorage medium on which is stored a print job control program forreceiving a print job to be used in a press plate printing system havingpost-processing and for generating a print job capable of being used ina digital printing system including a digital printing apparatus and apost-processing apparatus, the program causing a computer to function soas to: acquire post-processing function information of the digitalprinting apparatus, reference the acquired post-processing functioninformation and the print job, and determine to use either apost-processing function of the digital printing apparatus or thepost-processing apparatus for the post-processing, generate a print jobby which post-processing, for which the post-processing function of thedigital printing apparatus has been determined to be used, is executedby the post-processing function of the digital printing apparatus,generate a print job by which post-processing, for which thepost-processing apparatus has been determined to be used, is executed bythe post-processing apparatus, and send the generated print job to thedigital printing apparatus when a post-processing function of thedigital printing apparatus is determined to be used or send thegenerated print job to the post-processing apparatus when thepost-processing apparatus is determined to be used.

The present invention in its fourth aspect provides a print job controlapparatus that receives a print job for a press plate printing systemand generates a print job for a digital printing system including adigital printing apparatus, comprising: an acquiring unit configured toacquire a paper size outputable by the digital printing apparatus, analteration unit configured to alter arrangement information of page dataspecified by the print job for the press plate printing system so thatpage data contained in the print job for the press plate printing systemis arranged in the paper size acquired by the acquiring unit, and agenerating unit configured to generate the print job for the digitalprinting system based on the arrangement information altered by thealteration unit.

The present invention in its fifth aspect provides a print job controlmethod executed in a print job control apparatus that receives a printjob for a press plate printing system and generates a print job for adigital printing system including a digital printing apparatus, theprint job control method comprising an acquiring step of acquiring apaper size outputable by the digital printing apparatus, an alterationstep of altering arrangement information of page data specified by theprint job for the press plate printing system so that page datacontained in the print job for the press plate printing system isarranged in the paper size acquired in the acquiring step, and agenerating step of generating the print job for the digital printingsystem based on the arrangement information altered in the alterationstep.

The present invention in its sixth aspect provides a computer-readablestorage medium on which is stored a print job control program forreceiving a print job for a press plate printing system and forgenerating a print job for a digital printing system including a digitalprinting apparatus, the program causing a computer to function so as to:acquire a paper size outputable by the digital printing apparatus, alterarrangement information of page data specified by the print job for thepress plate printing system so that page data contained in the print jobfor the press plate printing system is arranged in the acquired papersize, and generate the print job for the digital printing system basedon the altered arrangement information.

With the present invention it is possible to automatically convert thefinishing process instructions of a print job in press plate printing tofinishing process instructions of a print job in digital printing.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments with reference to theattached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one example of a system that is configuredincluding a print job control apparatus, an offset printing workflowsystem, and a digital printing workflow system.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process of receiving aprint job that had been used in the offset printing workflow and sendinga job ticket to an MFP and an external post-processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a determination process ofa finishing process at step S203.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process of generating ajob ticket conversion instruction list at step S204.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing one example of a finishing process analysisresult.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing one example of a job ticket conversioninstruction list.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a job ticket conversionprocess at step S205.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process of convertingimposition instructions.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process of modifying ajob ticket for a post-processing apparatus at step S206.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process of sending a jobat step S207.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing one example of a job ticket that has beenmerged and corrected for internal finishing process functions of an MFP.

FIGS. 12A to 12E are diagrams showing single examples of job tickets forthe post-processing apparatuses used in the offset printing workflow.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a finishing processanalysis according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of an informationprocessing device to which a print job control apparatus according tothe present embodiment is applied.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments for executing the present invention aredescribed in detail while referencing the accompanying drawings. Itshould be noted that same reference numbers are assigned to samestructural elements and description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one example of a system that is configuredincluding a print job control apparatus according to a first embodimentof the present invention, a press plate printing system, and a digitalprinting system. It should be noted that in the following description,the press plate printing system may also be referred to as an offsetprinting workflow system, and the digital printing system may also bereferred to as a digital printing workflow system. Furthermore, a printjob to be used in the press plate printing system is defined as a pressplate printing system print job and a print job to be used in thedigital printing system is defined as a digital printing system printjob. As shown in FIG. 1, sending and receiving of data (such as imagedata, job tickets, control data, status request data, and status data)can be carried out by computers, devices, and printing systems through anetwork 100. An MIS (management information system) 101 comprehensivelymanages job processing conditions. For example, the MIS is a computerdevice (information processing device) having components such as a CPU,a ROM, a RAM, and an HD, and its functionality is achieved by the CPUexecuting programs stored on the ROM, HD, or other storage media.

A job storage unit 102 stores jobs for the printing apparatuses or forvarious post-processing apparatuses.

A job transceiving unit 103 carries out the transceiving of all jobs andstatuses handled between the MIS and the printing apparatuses of theoffset printing workflow or the various post-processing apparatuses, andthe MIS and the print job control apparatus of the digital printingworkflow. Here, “job” includes for example print jobs including printdata and printing instructions and error jobs where an error hasoccurred. Furthermore, it also includes jobs for processing in thesystem having various statuses, such as in-execution jobs, which areundergoing execution of print processing or the like, standby jobs forwhich a print request has been made and is standing by for commencementof processing, and a completed job for which output processing has beenfinished.

A system 110 is a system constituted by an offset printing workflow andincludes a plate-making device, an offset printing apparatus, andvarious post-processing apparatuses. A plate-making device 111 is a CTP(computer to plate) device that outputs plates from print jobs. Anoffset printing apparatus 112 uses the plates to output printedmaterials. A folding device 113 is one post-processing apparatus thatperforms a folding process on loaded printed materials in accordancewith predetermined instructions. A collating device 114 is onepost-processing apparatus that arranges loaded printed materials into apage order of a single manuscript in accordance with predeterminedinstructions. A binding device 115 is one post-processing apparatus thatperforms a binding process on loaded printed materials in accordancewith predetermined instructions. A trimming device 116 is onepost-processing apparatus that performs a trimming process on loadedprinted materials in accordance with predetermined instructions.

A system 120 is a system constituted by a digital printing workflow andincludes an MFP and various post-processing apparatuses. An MFP 121 is acomputer device (information processing device) having components suchas a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and an HD for example, and its various functionsare achieved by the CPU executing programs stored on the ROM, HD, orother storage media. A trimming device 122 is one post-processingapparatus that performs a trimming process on loaded printed materialsin accordance with predetermined instructions.

A print job control apparatus 130 is a computer device (informationprocessing device) having a job control function. An ordinaryinformation processing device as shown in FIG. 14 can be applied to theconfiguration of the print job control apparatus 130. As shown in FIG.14, the print job control apparatus 130 includes a CPU 1401, a ROM 1402,a RAM 1403, and an HDD 1404. Also included are an input device 1405 suchas a keyboard, a display unit 1406 such as a display, an external deviceinterface 1408 for connecting to external storage devices and the like,and a network interface 1407 for connecting to a network such as a LAN.Furthermore, these are mutually connected using a system bus 1409 andcan carry out sending and receiving of data. In a configuration such asthat shown in FIG. 14, the various functions are achieved by the CPU1401 executing programs stored on the ROM 1402, the HDD 1404, or otherstorage media. It should be noted that each step in the flowchartsdescribed in the present embodiment is executed by the CPU 1401.

A job transceiving unit 131 carries out transceiving of all jobsexchanged between the MIS and the print job control apparatus 130. Itshould be noted that in the present embodiment, a job includes, forexample, print jobs including print data and printing instructions anderror jobs where an error has occurred. Furthermore, it also includesjobs for processing in the system having various statuses, such asin-execution jobs, in which processing such as print processing is beingexecuted, standby jobs for which a print request has been made and isstanding by for commencement of processing, and a completed job forwhich output processing has been finished.

An imposition instruction conversion unit 132 converts impositioninstruction portions in the job tickets of print jobs to impositioninstructions corresponding to papers that can be processed by the MFP. Afinishing process analysis unit 133 references the job tickets of printjobs for post-processing apparatuses to determine whether or not theprocesses for the post-processing apparatuses can be substituted bysimple finishing processes of the internal finishing process functions(also referred to as internal post-processing functions) of the digitalprinting apparatus. An MFP internal functions obtaining unit 134 obtainsconfiguration information and capability information of the MFP internalfunctions from the MFP. Based on a result of the finishing processanalysis unit 133, a job ticket conversion instruction generating unit135 generates an instruction list in which instructions relating to theconversion and sending of job tickets of print jobs are listed. Inaccordance with the job ticket conversion instruction list, a job ticketconversion unit 136 generates job tickets in which finishing processesare merged and corrected for the internal finishing process functionsfor the MFP of the digital printing workflow. In accordance with the jobticket conversion instruction list, a job ticket modifying unit 137 forpost-processing apparatuses modifies the job tickets for thepost-processing apparatuses respectively in regard to print jobs for thepost-processing apparatuses. A job transceiving unit 138 carries outtransceiving of all jobs exchanged between the print job controlapparatus 130 and the MFP of the digital printing workflow or thepost-processing apparatuses.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process in which theprint job control apparatus according to the present embodiment receivesa print job that had been used in the offset printing workflow and sendsthe job ticket to the MFP of the digital printing workflow and externalpost-processing apparatuses. Here, in the present embodiment,description is given regarding a case where the same print job isprocessed in the digital printing workflow such that the print job thathad been used in the offset printing workflow does not undergoplate-making again.

First, at step S201, the job transceiving unit 131 receives a print jobthat has been used in an offset printing workflow.

Next, at step S202, the MFP internal functions acquiring unit 134 (oneexample of an acquiring unit) acquires configuration information andfunction information from the MFP and furthermore acquires therefrominternal finishing process function information (also referred to as MFPinternal post-processing function information). Here, the print jobcontrol apparatus 130 stores the configuration information and thatfunction information of the MFP and the internal finishing processfunction information including information of the accuracy of finishingprocesses in the RAM or HD. At step S203, the finishing process analysisunit 133 determines whether or not the finishing processes of the sameprint job in the offset printing workflow can be substituted by simplefinishing with the MFP internal post-processing functions.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a determination process(one example of a determination unit) of a finishing process shown atstep S203. First, at step S301, the print job control apparatus 130performs extraction regarding finishing processes from job tickets forthe post-processing apparatuses used in the offset printing workflow.

Here, FIGS. 12A to 12E are diagrams showing single examples of jobtickets for the post-processing apparatuses used in the offset printingworkflow. In the offset printing workflow, for example, a job ticket(FIG. 12D) of a “collating” process is sent to the collating device anda job ticket (FIG. 12E) of a “trimming” process is sent to the trimmingdevice. It should be noted that the respective job tickets areindependent.

At step S301, the print job control apparatus 130 performs extractionregarding information relating to finishing processes (a “folding”process shown in FIG. 12C, a “collating” process shown in FIG. 12D, anda “trimming” process shown in FIG. 12E) from job tickets for thepost-processing apparatuses used in the offset printing workflow.

At step S302, the print job control apparatus 130 determines whether ornot the extracted finishing processes are necessary in the digitalprinting workflow. For example, in the case where the same finishingsize as a standard size usable in the MFP is instructed, the trimmingprocess is determined as unnecessary. Here, when trimming has beendetermined unnecessary (NO at step S302), the procedure proceeds to stepS307 and the print job control apparatus 130 records “not to beprocessed” as a finishing process analysis result and stores this in amemory or the like.

Here, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing one example of a finishing processanalysis result according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5,the finishing process analysis result indicates the type of finishingprocess and a result of the analysis (determination). For example, inFIG. 5, a “folding” process, a “trimming” process, and a “collating”process are shown as finishing processes, and it is shown that the MFPinternal finishing process functions are to be used for the “folding”process and the “collating” process. Furthermore, it is shown that inthe digital printing workflow, the “trimming” process is not performed.

The procedure returns again to step S302. When it is determinednecessary at step S302 (YES at step S302), the procedure proceeds tostep S303 and the print job control apparatus 130 determines whether ornot the MFP internal finishing process functions are usable. That is,the configuration information and capability information of the MFP,which have been acquired in advance, are referenced, and it isdetermined whether or not the function corresponding to the targetedfinishing process is present in the MFP. For example, in the case wherethere is a folding process instruction in the offset printing workflow,it is determined “usable” if there is a “folding” process function inthe MFP of the digital printing workflow. Also for example, in the casewhere there is a collating process instruction in the offset printingworkflow, it is judged “usable” since the MFP is capable of digitallyarranging the images in page order. In the case where it is determinedat step S303 that there is no usable internal finishing process functionfor the targeted finishing process (NO at step S303), the print jobcontrol apparatus 130 records “use external post-processing apparatus”in the finishing process analysis result (FIG. 5) and stores this in amemory or the like (S306). On the other hand, when it is determined thatthere is a usable internal finishing process function in regard to thefinishing processes of the MFP (YES at step S303), then the procedureproceeds to step S304 and the print job control apparatus 130 determineswhether or not simple finishing is possible using the MFP internalpost-processing functions. For example, in the case where the MFP cansubstitute for the post-processing of the offset printing workflow, suchas the case where a desired printed material is obtainable usingtrimming at specific positions and a range that can be processed by theMFP, the print job control apparatus 130 determines that simplefinishing is possible. Other cases of this include a case where adesired printed material is obtainable by a trimming process within aspecific thickness (or sheet number) that can be processed by the MFP,or a case where a desired printed material is obtainable by a bindingprocess within a specific thickness (or sheet number) that can beprocessed by the MFP. Conversely, in the case where processing isnecessary outside the range of the capability information compared tothe capability information of the MFP such as a case where a trimmingprocess is requested at other than standard positions such as in gang-upprinting, or in the case where a binding process is requested of aspecific thickness (or sheet number) or greater, then it is determinedthat simple finishing is not possible. It should be noted that thedesired printed materials in the aforementioned examples are printedmaterials obtained by executing the offset printing workflow.

When it has been determined at step S304 that “simple processing is notpossible” (NO at step S304), the procedure proceeds to step S306, andthe print job control apparatus 130 records “use externalpost-processing apparatus” as a finishing process analysis result asshown in FIG. 5 and stores this in a memory or the like. On the otherhand, when it has been determined that “simple processing is possible”(YES at step S304), the procedure proceeds to step S305, and the printjob control apparatus 130 records “use internal finishing processfunctions” as a finishing process analysis result as shown in FIG. 5 andstores this in a memory or the like. At step S308, the print job controlapparatus 130 determines whether or not determinations have been madefor all finishing processes and if there are undetermined finishingprocesses (NO at step S308), the procedure returns to step S301. And ifthe determinations have been made for all the finishing processes (YESat step S308), the procedure proceeds to step S204 in FIG. 2.

At step S204 shown in FIG. 2, the print job control apparatus 130 (oneexample of a list generating unit) causes the job ticket conversion andinstruction generating unit 135 to generate a job ticket conversioninstruction list in which are listed the instructions regarding theconversion and sending of the job tickets of each print job.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process of generating ajob ticket conversion instruction list at step S204. First, at stepS401, the job ticket conversion and instruction generating unit 135acquires a result determined by the finishing process analysis unit 133.Next, at step S402, the job ticket conversion and instruction generatingunit 135 classifies the determination results of the finishing processanalysis unit 133. Here, for finishing processes recorded as “not to beprocessed”, the job ticket conversion and instruction generating unit135 records “unnecessary” at step S403 in “information of necessity ofsending job to post-processing apparatuses” of the job ticket conversioninstruction list. In this case, the job ticket conversion andinstruction generating unit 135 does not record a finishing processclassification in “process of merging into job ticket for digitalprinting”.

Here, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing one example of a job ticket conversioninstruction list according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG.6, the job ticket conversion instruction list shows relevant finishingprocesses in a section “process of merging into job ticket for digitalprinting”. Furthermore, the classification of the relevantpost-processing apparatus and the necessity of sending the job to thatapparatus are shown in a section “information of necessity of sendingjob to post-processing apparatus”. For example, the internal processingfunction of the MFP is to be used for the “folding” process, andtherefore this is shown as “process of merging into job ticket fordigital printing” in FIG. 6. Furthermore, since a post-processingapparatus is not used in the digital printing workflow system, sendingof the job is set to “unnecessary”.

At step S404, the type of finishing process for finishing processesrecorded as “internal finishing process function to be used” is recordedin “process of merging into job ticket for digital printing” of the jobticket conversion instruction list (FIG. 6). In this case, the jobtickets for digital printing are merged, and therefore “unnecessary” isrecorded in “information of necessity of sending job to post-processingapparatus”.

Furthermore, for finishing processes recorded as “externalpost-processing apparatus to be used”, “necessary” is recorded at stepS405 in “information of necessity of sending job to post-processingapparatuses” of the job ticket conversion instruction list (FIG. 6). Inthis case, a finishing process classification is not recorded in“process of merging into job ticket for digital printing”.

At step S406, if the classifications and the recording to job ticketconversion instruction list are not finished for all the determinationresults (YES at step S406), then the procedure returns to step S401. Onthe other hand, if the classifications and the recording to job ticketconversion instruction list are finished for all the determinationresults (NO at step S406), then the procedure proceeds to step S205shown in FIG. 2.

At step S205 shown in FIG. 2, the job ticket conversion unit 136 (oneexample of a first generating unit) generates job tickets in accordancewith the job ticket conversion instruction list in which finishingprocesses are merged and corrected for the internal finishing processfunctions for the MFP of the digital printing workflow.

Here, FIG. 11 is a diagram showing one example of a job ticket in whichfinishing processes have been merged and corrected for the internalfinishing process functions of the MFP of the digital printing workflow.As shown in FIG. 11, job tickets for “layout arrangement processing”,“rendering processing”, “print processing”, and “folding processing”,which are respectively independent in an offset printing workflow, aremerged as a job ticket to be sent to the MFP.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a job ticket conversionprocess at step S205. First, in generating printing instructions to besent to the MFP, at step S701, the job ticket conversion unit 136generates a temporary file of a job ticket for digital printing in whichno content of instructions is contained. Next, at step S702, the jobticket conversion unit 136 references the job tickets belonging to theprint job for the offset printing workflow received at step S201, anddetermines whether or not there are any imposition instructions. Here,at step S703, when there are imposition instructions, the job ticketconversion unit 136 converts portions of the imposition instructions ofthe job ticket of the print job to imposition instructions correspondingto the paper that can be processed by the MFP. On the other hand, ifthere are no imposition instructions, the procedure proceeds to stepS704.

Here, description is given regarding a process of converting impositioninstructions. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process ofconverting imposition instructions. First, at step S801, the impositioninstruction conversion unit 132 extracts the largest paper size fromfunction information of the MFP. Next, at step S802, the impositioninstruction conversion unit 132 acquires the paper size from the jobticket for the plate-making device or for the offset printing apparatus.At step S803, the imposition instruction conversion unit 132 acquiresarrangement information of the page data for the paper from the jobticket for the plate-making device. It should be noted that the pagedata is data indicating the content of one page portion to be printedonto the paper. Here, one page portion refers to a logical single page.Accordingly, in the case where data of two page portions is arranged onthe surface of the paper, two sets of page data are used. Next, at stepS804, the imposition instruction conversion unit 132 sets the paper sizeof the job ticket for digital printing to the largest paper size of theMFP. At step S805, the imposition instruction conversion unit 132modifies the arrangement information of the page data to match the papersize of the MFP, and at step S806 sets this as the arrangementinformation of the page of the job ticket for digital printing. Forexample, in a print job for a press plate printing system, arrangementinformation indicates that A1 size paper is to be used and that data ofeight page portions of A4 size page is to be arranged on the surface ofthe A1 size paper. Here, in the case where a print job for the pressplate printing system is to be applied to the digital printing systemwhose largest paper size is A3, the arrangement information is alteredso that the page data of the first and second pages is arranged on asurface of a first sheet of paper. Further still, the arrangementinformation is altered so that the page data of the third and fourthpages is arranged on a surface of a second sheet of paper, and the pagedata of the fifth and sixth pages is arranged on a surface of a thirdsheet of paper. In this way, a print job for the digital printing systemis generated based on the altered arrangement information. As describedabove, the imposition instructions are converted and the procedureproceeds to step S704 shown in FIG. 7.

Again, reference is made to FIG. 7. At step S704, the job ticketconversion unit 136 extracts finishing processes to be merged in the jobticket for digital printing from the job ticket conversion instructionlist generated at step S204. At step S705, the job ticket conversionunit 136 references the job ticket for the post-processing apparatusrelevant to the extracted finishing process and determines whether tocarry out extraction of portions of the instruction information or tocarry out conversion of the instructions. For example, in the case ofinstructions for a “folding” process, the instructions are equivalent inthe MFP also, and therefore “extract instruction portions” isdetermined. In the case where “extract instruction portions” isdetermined, the job ticket conversion unit 136 extracts at step S706 theportions of the instruction information from the job ticket for the“folding” apparatus, which is the relevant post-processing apparatus.

Furthermore, in the case of a “collating” process, the images aredigitally arranged in the MFP in page order so as to correspond tocollation, and therefore the job ticket conversion unit 136 determines“convert instruction portions”. In the case where “convert instructionportions” is determined, at step S707 the job ticket conversion unit 136converts the instruction portions of the job ticket of the “collating”process to instruction portions (instruction information) forarrangement to be performed in a page order that is characteristic tothe MFP.

At step S708, the job ticket conversion unit 136 reflects theinstruction portions extracted at step S706 and the instructioninformation replaced at step S707 into the job ticket for digitalprinting. At step S709, if there is a finishing process that has notbeen merged into the job ticket for digital printing (YES at step S709),the job ticket conversion unit 136 returns to step S704, but if all thefinishing processes are merged (NO at step S709), the procedure proceedsto step S206 shown in FIG. 2.

At step S206 shown in FIG. 2, the job ticket modifying unit 137 forpost-processing apparatuses modifies the respective job tickets for thepost-processing apparatuses in accordance with the job ticket conversioninstruction list in regard to print jobs for the post-processingapparatuses (one example of a second generating unit).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process of modifying ajob ticket for a post-processing apparatus at step S206. First, at stepS901, the job ticket modifying unit 137 for post-processing apparatusesacquires “information of necessity of sending job to post-processingapparatus” from the job ticket conversion instruction list. For example,in the case where “external post-processing apparatus to be used” isrecorded as the finishing process analysis result at step S203 sincethere is no trimming function in the MFP, “necessary” is recorded in the“information of necessity of sending job to post-processing apparatus”of the job ticket conversion instruction list of step S204.

At step S902, the job ticket modifying unit 137 for post-processingapparatuses determines whether or not “necessary” is recorded in the“information of necessity of sending job to post-processing apparatus”.Here, in the case where “necessary” is recorded (YES at step S902), theprocedure proceeds to step S903 and the job ticket modifying unit 137for post-processing apparatuses generates a temporary file forgenerating a second job ticket for the post-processing apparatusdifferent from the job ticket for the MFP. On the other hand, in thecase where “necessary” is not recorded (NO at step S902), the procedureproceeds to step S907.

At step S904, the job ticket modifying unit 137 for post-processingapparatuses reproduces the content of the job ticket of the targetedpost-processing apparatus that had been used in the offset printingworkflow into the second job ticket for the post-processing apparatus.Next, at step S905, the job ticket modifying unit 137 forpost-processing apparatuses determines whether or not a process ofconverting imposition instructions of step S703 has been carried out.Here, in the case where the process of converting impositioninstructions has been carried out (YES at step S905), the procedureproceeds to step S906 and the job ticket modifying unit 137 forpost-processing apparatuses modifies the parameters in contentreproduced in the second job ticket for the post-processing apparatusaffected by conversion of the imposition instructions. For example, inthe case of trimming, there is an influence on the information ofpositions for trimming, and the trimming positions before the conversionof the imposition instructions are converted to information of positionscorresponding to coordinates after the conversion of the impositioninstructions. On the other hand, if the process of converting impositioninstructions has not been carried out (NO at step S905), the procedureproceeds to step S907.

At step S907, the job ticket modifying unit 137 for post-processingapparatuses returns to step S901 if there is information yet to beprocessed in the information of necessity of job sending in the jobticket conversion instruction list (YES at step S907). On the otherhand, if all the processing is completed (NO at step S907), theprocedure proceeds to step S207 shown in FIG. 2.

In accordance with the job ticket conversion instruction list, the jobtransceiving unit 138 sends the print jobs for which conversion ormodification was carried out at step S205 or step S206 to the MFP of thedigital printing workflow or the necessary post-processing apparatus(one example of a sending unit, S207). FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing aprocedure of a process of sending a job at step S207. First, at stepS1001, the job transceiving unit 138 sends the previously generated jobtickets for digital printing and content data for printing such as PDFsor images that have undergone RIP to the MFP as print jobs for the MFP.Next, at step S1002, a determination is performed as to whether or not asecond job ticket for post-processing apparatuses has been generated.Here, in the case where the second job ticket has been generated (YES atstep S1002), the job transceiving unit 138 proceeds to step S1003 andsends the second job ticket for post-processing apparatuses to thetargeted external post-processing apparatus. Here, in the case wherethere is a yet to be processed second job ticket for post-processingapparatuses, the processing of steps S1002 and S1003 is repeated, andwhen all the processing is completed (NO at step S1002), the presentprocess finishes.

As described above, an equivalent print job as a print job that was usedin an offset printing workflow environment can be automatically used ina digital printing workflow environment without an operator having toreset the print job. Furthermore, the finishing processes available inthe MFP are used effectively, and therefore operator-based task are mademore efficient.

Even when the internal finishing process functions of the MFP and theeffective functions of the external post-processing apparatus are thesame, there may be differences in the accuracy of processing. FIG. 13 isa flowchart showing a procedure of a process of the finishing processanalysis unit 133 determining a presence/absence of a process capable ofundergoing simple finishing using an internal post-processing functionregarding a finishing process of a print job equivalent to offsetprinting.

At step S1301, the finishing process analysis unit 133 performsextraction regarding finishing processes from job tickets for thepost-processing apparatuses used in the offset printing workflow. Next,at step S1302, the finishing process analysis unit 133 determineswhether or not the extracted finishing processes are finishing processesthat are necessary in the digital printing. When “unnecessary” has beendetermined (NO at step S1302), the procedure proceeds to step S1308 andthe finishing process analysis unit 133 records “not to be processed” asa finishing process analysis result as shown in FIG. 5 and stores thisin a memory or the like. On the other hand, in the case where“necessary” is determined (YES at step S1302), the procedure proceeds tostep S1303.

Next, at step S1303, the finishing process analysis unit 133 determineswhether or not the internal finishing process functions of the MFP areusable. That is, a determination is performed as to whether or not theconfiguration information and capability information of the MFP, whichhave been acquired in advance, have functions corresponding to thetargeted finishing process. For example, in the case where there is a“folding” process instruction, if there is a “folding” process functionin the MFP, a determination is performed as to whether or not it is“usable”. Furthermore, in the case where there is a “collating” process,since the MFP is capable of digitally arranging the images in pageorder, “usable” is determined.

In the case where it is determined that there is no usable internalfinishing process function for the finishing process targeted (NO atstep S1303), the finishing process analysis unit 133 records “useexternal post-processing apparatus” in the finishing process analysisresult shown in FIG. 5 and stores this in a memory or the like (S1307).On the other hand, in the case where there is a usable internalfinishing process function (YES at step S1303), the procedure proceedsto step S1304.

At step S1304, the finishing process analysis unit 133 determineswhether or not simple finishing is possible using the internal finishingprocess functions of the MFP. It should be noted that a specific exampleis omitted here since this was given during the description of FIG. 3.When it has been determined at step S1304 that “simple processing is notpossible” (NO at step S1304), the procedure proceeds to step S1307, andthe finishing process analysis unit 133 records “use externalpost-processing apparatus” as the finishing process analysis resultshown in FIG. 5, and stores this in a memory or the like. On the otherhand, in the case where “simple finishing is possible” is determined(YES at step S1304), the procedure proceeds to step S1305.

From the internal finishing process function information extracted bythe MFP internal functions obtaining unit 134, the finishing processanalysis unit 133 obtains a difference between the information ofprocessing accuracy relating to the finishing process to be acquired andthe processing accuracy of the targeted post-processing apparatus. Then,the finishing process analysis unit 133 compares this difference againsta predetermined threshold value α (S1305).

Here, the information of finishing process accuracy of thepost-processing apparatuses is acquired by the MIS 101 from the variousapparatuses in the offset workflow, and sent to the print job controlapparatus 130 separately from the print job (one example of a receivingunit). Furthermore, the threshold value a is stored in a memory or thelike in advance for each finishing process of the post-processingapparatuses.

At step S1305, the finishing process analysis unit 133 selects thethreshold value a from the finishing process of the targetedpost-processing apparatus and obtains the difference between theprocessing accuracy of the internal finishing process function and thefinishing process accuracy of the targeted post-processing apparatus. Ifa value thereof is less than the threshold value (YES at step S1305),then the procedure proceeds to step S1306 and “use internal finishingprocess function” is recorded in the finishing process analysis resultshown in FIG. 5 and stored in a memory or the like. On the other hand,when this is not less than the threshold value (NO at step S1305), theprocedure proceeds to step S1307 and the finishing process analysis unit133 records “use external post-processing apparatus” in the finishingprocess analysis result shown in FIG. 5 and stores this in a memory orthe like. For example, suppose that the accuracy of the trimmingfunction of the internal finishing process function of the MFP is 0.5mm, the accuracy of the trimming device of the targeted post-processingapparatus is 0.1 mm, and the threshold value a is 0.3 mm. In this case,since the difference of trimming accuracy is 0.4 mm, the procedureproceeds to step S1307 as a result of the determination at step S1305,and “use external post-processing apparatus” is recorded in thefinishing process analysis result shown in FIG. 5.

Next, in the case where there are yet to be processed finishingprocesses when the finishing process analysis unit 133 determines atstep S1309 whether or not determination processing has been finished forall the finishing processes (NO at step S1309), the procedure returns tostep S1301. On the other hand, in the case where determinationprocessing is finished for all the finishing processes (YES at stepS1309), then the present processing is finished and the procedureproceeds to step S204 shown in FIG. 2. Processing from step S204 onwardis equivalent to the description in the first embodiment.

As described above, with the present embodiment, the internalpost-processing functions of the MFP of the digital printing workfloware used only in the case where they are within a certain specifiedprocessing accuracy range, and therefore the quality of the finish ofthe resultant product to be provided to the customer can be maintaineduniformly.

Furthermore, the present invention includes a case of having anoperating system (OS) or the like that runs on a computer carry out apart or all of the actual processing according to instructions of aprogram (print job control program) code such that the functionality ofthe foregoing embodiments is achieved by the processing thereof. Furtherstill, the present invention can also be applied in a case where theprogram code read out from the computer-readable storage medium iswritten onto a memory provided in an extension card inserted into thecomputer or an extension unit connected to the computer. In this case, aCPU or the like provided in the extension card or extension unit maycarry out a part or all of the actual processing according toinstructions of the program code that has been written in such that thefunctionality of the foregoing embodiments is achieved by the processingthereof.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2008-052583, filed Mar. 3, 2008, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

1. A print job control apparatus that receives a print job to be used ina press plate printing system having post-processing and generates aprint job capable of being used in a digital printing system including adigital printing apparatus and a post-processing apparatus, comprising:an acquiring unit configured to acquire post-processing functioninformation of the digital printing apparatus, a determination unitconfigured to reference the post-processing function informationacquired by the acquiring unit and the received print job, and determineto use either a post-processing function of the digital printingapparatus or the post-processing apparatus for the post-processing, afirst generating unit configured to generate a print job by whichpost-processing, for which the determination unit has determined thepost-processing function of the digital printing apparatus to be used,is executed by the post-processing function of the digital printingapparatus, a second generating unit configured to generate a print jobby which post-processing, for which the determination unit hasdetermined the post-processing apparatus to be used, is executed by thepost-processing apparatus, and a sending unit configured to send theprint job generated by the first generating unit to the digital printingapparatus or send the print job generated by the second generating unitto the post-processing apparatus.
 2. The print job control apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the determination unit further comprises alist generating unit configured to generate an instruction list, using adetermination result, including a list of processes for which apost-processing function of the digital printing apparatus is to be usedand information indicating whether or not a print job is to be sent tothe post-processing apparatus.
 3. The print job control apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising a receiving unit configured toreceive data indicating an accuracy of post-processing from the pressplate printing system, wherein the determination unit obtains adifference between the accuracy of post-processing indicated by the datareceived by the receiving unit and an accuracy contained in thepost-processing function information acquired by the acquiring unit, andwhen the difference is less than a predetermined threshold value,determines that a post-processing function of the digital printingapparatus is to be used for post-processing, and when the difference isnot less than the predetermined threshold value, determines that thepost-processing apparatus is to be used for post-processing.
 4. Theprint job control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the secondgenerating unit generates a print job to be used in the post-processingapparatus by modifying a print job to be used in the press plateprinting system.
 5. A print job control method executed in a print jobcontrol apparatus that receives a print job to be used in a press plateprinting system having post-processing and generates a print job capableof being used in a digital printing system including a digital printingapparatus and a post-processing apparatus, the print job control methodcomprising: an acquiring step of acquiring post-processing functioninformation of the digital printing apparatus, a determination step ofreferencing the post-processing function information acquired in theacquiring step and the received print job, and determining to use eithera post-processing function of the digital printing apparatus or thepost-processing apparatus for the post-processing, a first generatingstep of generating a print job by which post-processing, for which thepost-processing function of the digital printing apparatus has beendetermined in the determination step to be used, is executed by thepost-processing function of the digital printing apparatus, a secondgenerating step of generating a print job by which post-processing, forwhich the post-processing apparatus has been determined in thedetermination step to be used, is executed by the post-processingapparatus, and a sending step of sending the print job generated in thefirst generating step to the digital printing apparatus or sending theprint job generated in the second generating step to the post-processingapparatus.
 6. A computer-readable storage medium on which is stored aprint job control program for receiving a print job to be used in apress plate printing system having post-processing and for generating aprint job capable of being used in a digital printing system including adigital printing apparatus and a post-processing apparatus, the programcausing a computer to function so as to: acquire post-processingfunction information of the digital printing apparatus, reference theacquired post-processing function information and the print job, anddetermine to use either a post-processing function of the digitalprinting apparatus or the post-processing apparatus for thepost-processing, generate a print job by which post-processing, forwhich the post-processing function of the digital printing apparatus hasbeen determined to be used, is executed by the post-processing functionof the digital printing apparatus, generate a print job by whichpost-processing, for which the post-processing apparatus has beendetermined to be used, is executed by the post-processing apparatus, andsend the generated print job to the digital printing apparatus when thepost-processing function of the digital printing apparatus is determinedto be used or send the generated print job to the post-processingapparatus when the post-processing apparatus is determined to be used.7. A print job control apparatus that receives a print job for a pressplate printing system and generates a print job for a digital printingsystem including a digital printing apparatus, comprising: an acquiringunit configured to acquire a paper size outputable by the digitalprinting apparatus, an alteration unit configured to alter arrangementinformation of page data specified by the print job for the press plateprinting system so that page data contained in the print job for thepress plate printing system is arranged in the paper size acquired bythe acquiring unit, and a generating unit configured to generate theprint job for the digital printing system based on the arrangementinformation altered by the alteration unit.
 8. A print job controlmethod executed in a print job control apparatus that receives a printjob for a press plate printing system and generates a print job for adigital printing system including a digital printing apparatus, theprint job control method comprising: an acquiring step of acquiring apaper size outputable by the digital printing apparatus, an alterationstep of altering arrangement information of page data specified by theprint job for the press plate printing system so that page datacontained in the print job for the press plate printing system isarranged in the paper size acquired in the acquiring step, and agenerating step of generating the print job for the digital printingsystem based on the arrangement information altered in the alterationstep.
 9. A computer-readable storage medium on which is stored a printjob control program for receiving a print job for a press plate printingsystem and for generating a print job for a digital printing systemincluding a digital printing apparatus, the program causing a computerto function so as to: acquire a paper size outputable by the digitalprinting apparatus, alter arrangement information of page data specifiedby the print job for the press plate printing system so that page datacontained in the print job for the press plate printing system isarranged in the acquired paper size, and generate the print job for thedigital printing system based on the altered arrangement information.